U.S. troops killed during the war in Iraq are seen in this photo combo: Spc. Robert J. Dixon of Minneapolis, Sgt. Joel W. Lewis of Sandia Park, N.M., Cpl. Michael A. Pursel of Clinton, Utah, Sgt. Sameer A.M. Rateb of Absecon, N.J., and Staff Sgt. Vincenzo Romeo of Lodi, N.J.

Potter, 24, of Tacoma, Wash., was killed May 3, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

“He was very adamant,” said his sister Amber. “He said, ‘I know there’s this chance, but I’m going to do it.’ It was what he really loved and what he wanted to do.”

His family said he grew up in Yelm and Olympia, and he attended high school before joining the Job Corps, where he got his GED. He worked a couple of years as a forestry firefighter.

After finishing his enlistment, he aspired to use his GI Bill money to become a park ranger.

“He was a spectacular kid,” his mom said. “He had a lot of challenges in his life, a difficult childhood, but he overcame them. He had his whole life mapped out, and he was following it to a T.”

Sgt. William Fleming, a team leader who served with Army Sgt. Brice A. Pearson, said the fallen soldier cared deeply about his comrades.

“Brice didn’t talk about work much off-duty, but he always wanted to know how his guys were doing,” Fleming said. “I’ve lost friends before, but nothing like this. It’s very overwhelming.”

Pearson, 32, of Phoenix, was killed April 23, 2007, in a suicide car bombing in As Sadah, Iraq. He was a 1993 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Brice attended Arizona State University, majoring in English literature. He earned an Eagle Scout badge from the Boy Scouts and joined the Army in March 2004.

Robert Pearson tried but failed to talk his son into leaving the Army.

“He said, ‘Well, Dad, I can’t explain to you what it’s like to go out to battle with your feet hanging out of a helicopter,’ ” the elder Pearson said. “I said, ‘Yeah, but what if you’re dead?’ He said, ‘Well, Dad, then I’ll be in heaven, and I’ll be OK.’ ”

He also is survived by his mother, Leslie.

Josio Toledo, his eyes puffy and red, recalled the times he and his brother, Army Cpl. Victor H. Toledo Pulido, would have fun. It wasn’t hard.

He remembered the paintball tournaments. He remembered his brother’s smile.

“He was like everything to me,” he said. “I always took care of him. I wanted the best for him.”

Pulido, 22, of Hanford, Calif., was killed by a roadside bomb May 23, 2007, in Nahrawan, Iraq. He was assigned to Fort Benning, Ga.

“I would always tell him to take care of himself because I would never find another son like him,” said his mother, Maria Gaspar. “He was my baby.”

Pulido was born in Mexico and immigrated with his family when he was 7. He was not a citizen but was a legal resident of the United States.

“He liked the military experience he had with the reserves, so he decided to make it a career,” Josio Toledo said.

He also is survived by his wife, Christi, and son, Isak.

The couple met at a Halloween party. She was 13; he was two years older.

“He was her first love — her first everything,” said Margaret Aguilar, Christi’s mother. “My heart breaks because her heart breaks.”

For as long as anyone could remember, Army Cpl. Michael A. Pursel wanted to be a soldier. And he knew his stuff.

When he was just a small child, Pursel received a tiny Army uniform from his parents. They soon got an earful. “These just aren’t right,” Pursel’s mother, Terry Dutcher, recalled her son saying. “I have no rank. I have no patch. I have no name.”

Pursel, 19, of Clinton, Utah, died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah, Iraq, when a bomb detonated near his vehicle. He joined the Army at age 17 and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was remembered for his love of his family and friends, of basketball, cars and the outdoors.

Staff Sgt. William Rose recalled how Pursel struggled to adapt to using night-vision goggles, drawing laughter from others when he described hearing Pursel fall during night training.

“We’re proud of Michael, and Michael was doing what he always wanted to do,” Dutcher said. “In light of how it turned out, I know Michael was happy. I just take peace in that right now.”

He also is survived by his stepfather, Jeffrey Dutcher Sr.; father, Dean Pursel; and stepmother, Mellony Pursel.

Army Sgt. Sameer A.M. Rateb visited ground zero in New York and was so moved by what he saw that he joined the Army.

“It devastated him,” said his father, Mohamed Rateb. “He just couldn’t handle the emotion of what had happened there.”

Rateb, 22, of Absecon, N.J., died May 6, 2007, in Baiji, Iraq, from injuries suffered from a noncombat-related incident. He was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., and had done a tour in Afghanistan.

“He was hoping to change the world,” said his father. “Some people do it by literature, and some people do it by brawn.”

He played baseball and soccer in South Carolina, where he attended high school for a time and later earned a GED. Rateb re-enlisted in 2007 for four more years and planned to learn how to fly Black Hawk helicopters by applying for the warrant officer program.

“He was a very outspoken person, a loyal friend, a loving husband and father,” said his father. “He was a best friend to me.”

Rateb also is survived by his wife, Tiffany, and his stepson, Jason.

“I sent a boy to the Army, and he came back a man,” his father said. “He was proud of what he was doing.”

Deni Belanich recalled memories of doing “goofy stuff” with Army Staff Sgt. Vincenzo Romeo. They’d be walking around a store, and one would suddenly tag the other, say, “You’re it,” and run.

“It’s going to be tough without him here, because he kept everybody up,” Belanich said. “If you knew you were going to hang out with him that day, you knew you were going to laugh.”

Romeo, 23, of Lodi, N.J., was killed May 6, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

Romeo, who emigrated from Italy with his family in 1986, had planned to marry his fiancee, Amanda, and become a New Jersey trooper. He attended Kean University in Union for a year.

The way Romeo met his fiancee was “a typical Vinnie story,” said Belanich: The two were at a bar, there was some trouble, Romeo ran outside to hide, and Amanda found him in the bushes.

Romeo was “the funniest man in the whole battalion,” said Capt. Christopher Franco, a friend of Romeo’s. “Even after a firefight, he’d find a way to make light of the situation.”

He also is survived by his parents, Saverina and Antonio.

Most of the time, Army Spec. Joshua G. Romero shied away from being photographed. But not for his graduation photo: That was a favor for his father.

“He was a typical teenager. He didn’t get into a lot of trouble. He was a good kid. He did well in school and graduated, which is an accomplishment in our family. I was very proud of him and the fact that he stuck with it,” said his father, Joe.

Romero, 19, of Crowley, Texas, was killed May 18, 2007, by an explosive in Tahrir, Iraq. He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. He shipped out the day after he turned 18.

“Out of nowhere he just joined the service. I guess it was just something he felt like he had to do. It surprised me, but I was all for it. I supported him,” said his father.

He liked Jimi Hendrix and was low-key, but he made time to hang with his pals.

He also was close to eight siblings from his blended family.

Romero also is survived by his wife, Michelle, and son, Joshua David.

His father remembers the last thing he said to his son.

“I told him I loved him. I loved him and stay sharp, just to stay safe.”

Before his daughter was born, Army Spec. Alexander Rosa Jr. bought baby books and read them into a tape recorder. He wanted his infant daughter to get used to his voice while he was in Iraq.

In typical Rosa manner, he described each book’s action and made the appropriate noises to tell the whole story — such as a pig’s oink.

Rosa, 22, of Orlando, Fla., was killed May 25, 2007, by an explosion in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. He was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

He loved ice cream, face- painting with his niece, a cold Heineken and yukking it up with friends.

He also was a music junkie, wearing headphones so often that he snapped a picture of his newborn, Ellie, sporting them too.

Rosa died wearing a St. Valentine medallion his wife gave him with their initials inscribed on the back. He was the same age as his father — and namesake — when his father was murdered.

“He was a baby when his father died, just like his daughter is now,” said his aunt, Elizabeth Mendez-Soto.

He also is survived by his wife, Melissa.

During Sandra Hernandez’s last visit with her son, she arrived at Junction City, Kan., near Fort Riley, when it was 15 degrees below zero.

She spotted Army Pvt. Oscar Sauceda Jr. waiting in his car.

“Son, it’s so cold out here,” she told him.

“Oh, Mom, I knew you were going to say that,” she said her son responded. “I have a warm cappuccino waiting for you and a little blanket for you to cuddle up.”

“He thought of everything,” she said.

Sauceda, 21, of Del Rio, Texas, was killed May 22, 2007, in Baghdad by small-arms fire. He was a 2004 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Riley.

A natural athlete, Sauceda was a shot-putter and discus thrower on the track team and played football for his school, and later for a city league.

Ragan Sheedy remembered that one morning their junior year his car broke down and he called Sauceda to pick him up. Doing so would make Sauceda late for football practice, which meant a penalty.

But he came for his friend, and sat out that week’s game as a punishment for being late.

“He was like my big brother,” Sheedy said. “He was Superman to me.”

He also is survived by his stepfather, Ricky Hernandez.

Army Pvt. Anthony J. Sausto returned from boot camp bulked up and brimming with confidence. No longer was he the inhibited, skinny 6-foot-3 guy who hesitated to talk with people.

“He used to be so shy, and now he was so outgoing and confident,” said Mary Olivo-Sausto, his sister-in-law.

Sausto, 22, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., was killed May 10, 2007, by small-arms fire in Baghdad. He earned a GED and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was drawn to the military after years of playing military-themed video games.

A favorite was “SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals.” Playing as DrowElf, he teamed up with his brother Tom and his sister-in-law. The three conducted virtual online missions with three PlayStations going simultaneously.

Even after touching down in Iraq, Sausto sent letters home that were light and funny. He talked about playing volleyball with the guys on base and “getting buff,” a humorous thought to relatives who still remembered a scrawny kid.

He asked for pictures of his nieces and nephews and said “he was learning a lot about himself,” Olivo-Sausto said.

He also is survived by his mother, Nancy Sausto.

Army Sgt. Anthony J. Schober was inspired to enlist by the horror of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“At the age of 17, he came to me and said he wanted to join the Army,” said his father, Ed Schober. “He was affected by the 9/11 incident. I asked whether he was sure about this and really wanted to do it. He said yes, so I signed the papers.”

Schober, 23, of Carson City, Nev., was killed May 12, 2007, in Taqa, Iraq, by automatic fire and explosives. He was assigned to Fort Drum, N.Y., and was on his third tour.

He had been wounded on a previous tour, suffering a fractured jaw that had to be wired shut for about a month when he was blasted from a Humvee.

Schober did not graduate before entering the service.

“I think he was a little bored with school,” said his grandmother Arlene Schober. “He was very intelligent. We think he was going to make a career out of it, moving up to the rank of staff sergeant.”

He also is survived by his mother, Roberta Schober.

“I’m proud of my son before he went in and after he went in,” said his father. “I’m proud of him, but I’m also grieving for him.”

In addition to playing in band, Army Sgt. Jason A. Schumann was his high school’s mascot during his senior year.

“We’re the ‘Nuggets,’ and nobody knew what the mascot should look like,” Martin said. “But they put together an outfit with a Styrofoam pick ax, making him up like a gold miner or something, and he was out there at all the games when the cheerleaders were on the floor.”

Schumann, 23, of Hawley, Minn., was killed May 19, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Diwaniyah, Iraq. A 2002 high school graduate, he was assigned to Fort Polk, La., and was on his second tour.

Mike Martin, his former principal, called his former student a “delightful young man in every regard,” known by some as “Tuba” for the instrument he played in the high school band.

“He was an extremely happy student, kind of a free spirit of sorts, but in a very good sort of way,” Martin said. “We just thoroughly enjoyed him as a student.”

He liked to sail and built sailboats, and enjoyed cross-country running. He was a talented artist and enjoyed writing historical fiction.

He is survived by his wife, Laura, and son, Joe.

Army Staff Sgt. Coby G. Schwab had already served a tour in Iraq but volunteered for the Army Reserve to help train the next generation of soldiers, said Maj. Gen. Lawrence J. Johnson.

“He saw the Reserve soldiers had little, if any, combat experience,” Johnson said. “He wanted to take his experience and use it to shape their experience.”

Schwab, 25, of Puyallup, Wash., was killed May 3, 2007, by an explosive in Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Because of his mother’s upbringing in the Rocky Mountains, he was especially fond of hiking and recently had returned to school, in Washington, to study geology.

They had hiked the Narrows in Southern Utah’s Zion National Park when he was on leave in September 2004. “We did it in eight hours, the two of us,” said his mother, Jane Hanson.

“He loved life. He was an outdoors person and was into sports and hiking,” she said. “He wanted to jump out of planes and climb mountains.”

He also is survived by his stepfather, Don Hanson.

“He was just a very caring, giving person,” said his mother. “He always would make sure everybody else was comfortable.”

Air Force Staff Sgt. John T. Self‘s sister said he inherited a curse: a compassionate heart.

“He wanted everyone to be happy and safe,” said Misty Gann. “That’s why he volunteered to help the Iraqis. He was torn about the decision because he knew Mother and I wanted him back home, but he knew we understood his reasoning for going.”

Self, 29, of Pontotoc, Miss., was killed May 14, 2007, in combat near Baghdad. He was assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas and was on his fourth tour as a military policeman.

As a 1998 high school graduate, Self was a trumpet player in the marching band. “He was so friendly and kindhearted,” said Edna Scott, who taught him as a ninth-grader. “He was always ready to help anyone.”

Fellow soldiers said he could always find the humor in anything regardless of the situation and was dedicated to his colleagues.

“He believed in everything he did,” said Senior Airman Daniel Hunsperger, a member of Self’s fire team. “This was obvious to us after learning he had only spent two weeks home between his last deployment and volunteering for this one.”

He also is survived by his mother, Jill.

Army Spec. Erich S. Smallwood was a man who even on his darkest day had a knack for lightening the days of others.

“He had a really big heart,” said Smallwood’s roommate, Sgt. Walter Rau. “I’ve only known him for less than a year, but we were best friends. Probably 80 percent of the time I smiled over here, it was because of him.”

Smallwood, 23, of Trumann, Ark., was killed May 26, 2007, by a roadside bomb near Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to Marked Tree, Ark.

“His family needs to know that Erich was loved deeply by all of us. He was our heart. He was our laughter,” said Lt. George Collins, Smallwood’s platoon leader.

Everyone who met Smallwood had a story.

He bought the new Army uniform before the rest of his unit.

Spec. Steve Woodall got his uniform next but wasn’t allowed to wear it without a name patch on his right chest. So Smallwood took one of his own name tags, cut it in three pieces and rearranged his name to spell Woodall.

“That way I could wear my new uniform,” Woodall said.

He was a star football and basketball player, voted Mr. Trumann High School and described as a guy everyone loved to be around.

He is survived by his parents.

Army Pvt. Cole E. Spencer was in and out of high school and never graduated. He did, however, complete his GED. According to teacher Sally Hooten, he was happier after he returned from basic training.

“He thought people were proud of him, and that made him feel good,” Hooten said. “I felt he had grown up immensely proud that he found something he truly loved.”

Spencer, 21, of Gays, Ill., was killed April 28 by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire in Salman Pak, Iraq. He was assigned to Fort Benning, Ga.

Pvt. Josh Gage, who attended his friend’s funeral, said Spencer was the type of person who rarely met a stranger.

“He was friendly, outgoing, not afraid to talk to anyone and not afraid to be their friend,” Gage said. “It’s a shame we had to lose him.”

Cindy Guin said Spencer and her son attended kindergarten together.

“My son was upset the most,” Guin said. “He said Cole was a really nice kid. He should be honored in every sense.”

Janie Ross remembered Spencer as a nice person who was smitten by the Army and outdoors. “He was easy to get along with,” Ross said.

He is survived by his parents, Candy and Mark Spencer.

Army Spec. Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda found pride in being a soldier. In fact, he was featured in an Army recruitment commercial airing on Spanish-language television.

“He loved it,” said his stepfather, Julio De Paz. “When he was a kid, he always played with soldiers. He wanted to be in the military all the time.”

Sunsin-Pineda, 20, of Long Beach, Calif., was killed May 2, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Riley, Kan.

During high school, Sunsin- Pineda often worked in De Paz’s automotive service shop in Long Beach, doing welding and tire rotations. He also enjoyed playing soccer and snowboarding and was called for the Army National Soccer Team tryouts.

“He was happy, smiling all the time,” De Paz said. “He told a lot of jokes, made everybody laugh.”

He played several instruments, including trombone, accordion, bass and drums.

After serving in Iraq, Sunsin-Pineda planned on either continuing his service in the Army or becoming a police officer.

He also is survived by his mother, Lesby De Paz, and his father, Anibal Sunsin.

Army Spec. Francis M. Trussel Jr. had a tough start.

His mother died of cancer when he was about 2, and he, his brother, Jesse, and sister, Heather, were placed in foster care. His younger sister was killed by a car when she was a child.

“He had such a hard life growing up,” said his aunt, Janice Trussel. “I think he wanted to join the Army to do something to make his mom proud.”

Trussel, 21, Lincoln, Ill., was killed May 26, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Tahrir, Iraq. He was a 2003 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

Friends remembered Trussel as a hardworking, happy man who went out of his way to help others.

“He was an awesome person and would bend over backwards for anybody,” said Cody McDermith. “If he could do something for somebody, he would.”

He is survived by his wife, Jodi, and sons, Jaden and Malikye.

“He was a scrapper, but he’d give you the shirt off his back,” Janice Trussel said. “He adored his boys.”

Mary Ingersoll, the mother of Bill Ingersoll, a classmate, remembered Trussel fondly. “He was a very happy kid — always upbeat — always trying to cheer other people up.”

In high school, Army 1st Lt. Colby J. Umbrell blew out his knee during one of the first games of the 1998 football season.

“He was ready to go back on the field the next week,” said Bryan Scott, a former teammate who now plays for the Buffalo Bills. “I said, ‘Whoa, Colby, you might need surgery, you can’t do that.’ He said, ‘If I can walk, I can play.’ He taped that thing up and was back out there a couple weeks later.”

Later that school year, Colby threw shot put and ran the 100-yard dash for the track team.

“And he did it all on one leg because he just wanted to participate and do something,” former track and field coach Paul Wilson said.

Umbrell, 26, of Doylestown, Pa., was killed May 3, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Musayyib, Iraq. He was a 2004 graduate of Johns Hopkins University and was assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska.

He interned for former Bucks County Congressman Jim Greenwood in Washington.

In recent years, he ran marathons in Chicago, Rome and Alaska. His father said he wanted to become a lawyer and work for the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps.

He is survived by his parents, Mark and Nancy.

Army Pfc. Alexander R. Varela loved playing Xbox and PlayStation video games with friends, including all-night “Halo” contests. His favorite activity was riding all-terrain vehicles, or “quads,” with buddies.

Friend James Palmer said riding quads will be the best way to remember Varela.

“We’ll get all of his friends together,” Palmer said. “We’ll gas up the quads, and we’ll head out into the desert. That’s what he’d want us to do.”

Varela, 19, of Fernley, Nev., was killed by a roadside bomb May 19, 2007, in Baghdad. He was a 2003 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

“He was learning Arabic and made lots of friends,” said his mother, Rinda Pope. “He knew how to make his buddies laugh and relieve tension. Everybody loved him.”

In November 2006, he was injured in fighting when a bullet that failed to pierce his body armor left him with a cracked rib.

Varela played Little League baseball, took karate classes and enjoyed fishing and bowling with his grandfather. He sent his mother a pink iPod for Mother’s Day.

“He was just a typical, All-American kid,” said his father, Roger Varela.

Whether living in South America with his missionary parents, in Alabama, Mississippi, or anywhere else, Army Sgt. Jason W. Vaughn always adjusted well to his environment.

“He had friends all over the place. He was an outgoing type of person,” said his father, Walter Vaughn. “The world lost a leader. My son was a born leader.”

Vaughn, 29, of Iuka, Miss., was killed May 10, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. He was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash., and was on his second tour.

Vaughn attended a junior college and Mississippi State University after graduating from high school in 1996. He enlisted in the Army in 2002.

“He told me he didn’t want to be promoted, because he wanted to be in the fight helping the men and women he served with,” Walter Vaughn said. “Jason was so loyal.”

“I’ll get up and go vote when I think it’s too cold and rainy because this young soldier died for the great principles of the Constitution, because of the great freedoms he pledged his life for,” said Maj. Gen. Harold Cross, the adjutant general of Mississippi’s Army National Guard.

He also is survived by his mother, RaNae.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey D. Walker went from being a troubled teen who wore saggy pants to a young man who said “yes, ma’am” and “yes, sir.”

“When he got back from boot camp, I mean, I could see the change in him,” said his father, James David Walker. “It was from the teenager to becoming a man. More of a man than I’ll ever be.”

Walker, 21, of Macon, Ga., was killed by a sniper May 14, 2007, in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and was on his second tour.

Walker liked to fix cars and loved to roller skate. He had an older sister who bullied him as a child and a younger one who stole his clothes as a teen. He drew cartoon characters and stored them in a fraying notebook.

He “swore up and down he could sing,” big sister Kelly Otto said, and he could play the drums and the guitar.

Otto came up with his nickname: “Bubba.” His great- grandmother called him “J-Bo.”

He is survived by a son, Conner, and the child’s mother, Dana Young.

Army Staff Sgt. Shannon V. Weaver‘s wife, Desiree, said he always put his squad before himself.

“He made sure that they had all been on leave before him, and he made special arrangements for one of them to be home during the birth of a child,” she said.

Weaver, 28, of Cedartown, Ga., was killed by a roadside bomb May 21, 2007, in Baghdad. He graduated high school in Alabama in 1998 and was assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska.

In addition to previously serving in Iraq, Shannon had been deployed to Kosovo and the Dominican Republic during his 10-year Army career.

Charles Heyman, whose son, Derrick, served with Weaver, said his son told him Weaver “had a big body, big voice and big heart.”

He was the platoon “go to” guy, Heyman’s son added.

“He was so sweet, such a sweet boy, but he was tough, too,” said his grandmother, Joan Weaver.

Weaver’s wife was going to open a pet boarding and grooming business while he became a park ranger.

“We talked about building our home from the ground up and were about to get the blueprints for the house,” she said. “I’m still going to honor what he wanted to do.”

His unit received letters and a box of Tastykakes, beef jerky, Christmas ornaments and cards from the students.

When Weiglein came home on a 10-day leave in January, he visited the school and answered endless questions at a packed school assembly.

“The roar of the crowd when he went into the auditorium that day, you would’ve sworn a rock star was going in,” said Ellen Weiglein, his mother. “They were so joyful to see him.”

Weiglein, 31, of Audubon, N.J., was killed May 29, 2007, in Ilbu Falris, Iraq, of wounds from an explosive. He was a 1994 high school graduate, was on his second tour and was assigned to Fort Drum, N.Y.

“He was also very fun to be around,” said Donald Borden, who was his history teacher. “He was the boy next door. He surely will be missed.”

He served one year in Korea, then moved to Fort Riley, Kan., where he met his wife, Jennifer. The couple moved to Tennessee, where he spent the next five years working as a recruiter.

“He was a great friend and a great soldier,” said friend Mike Nolan. “He touched so many people’s lives.”

Army Spec. Andrew R. Weiss liked to travel with Jack Kerouac’s popular book “On the Road.” He also had a tattoo on his arm to honor Hunter S. Thompson.

“Andy was always a deep thinker, trying to figure out the meaning of life,” said his wife, Kate. “He was figuring himself out and growing constantly.”

Weiss, 28, of Lafayette, Ind., was killed May 3, 2007, in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. He was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

A 1997 high school graduate, he received his associate’s degree in construction technology from Vincennes University in 2000. He enjoyed recreational target shooting.

“Andy was really laid-back and funny,” said his wife. “He could carry the weight of the world on his shoulders as if it was a feather.” He also is survived by his children, Lillian and Jacob.

The couple called their son “Jack” in honor of Kerouac.

His wife said other soldiers respected her husband’s intelligence. “They called him something like ‘The Professor.’ He carried his books and tried to get the guys to read more,” she said.

She said the final package she sent to him included a “Gonzo” T-shirt and his favorite Chicago Cubs hat.

Army 1st Lt. Kile G. West was remembered by family members and friends as a protective big brother, a loyal friend and a determined man.

“I know that when it came down to it, Kile was the kind of guy that, it didn’t matter what the reason was, he was fighting for the person next to him,” said Marc Parks, a childhood friend.

West, 23, of Pasadena, Texas, was killed May 28, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Abu Sayda, Iraq. He was a 2005 graduate of Stephen F. Austin University and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

He liked Texas country music by artists such as Cory Morrow and Robert Earl Keen. He liked barbecue and beer.

He played high school football, helping his team get to the class 2A playoffs in 2000.

“He was a really hardworking kid and showed up every day, busted his rear and worked his way into being a really good player,” former coach Lee Penland said.

He expected the best from others.

“If you didn’t live up to it, he’d give you a hard time about it,” friend Stacy Stanley said. “He’d let you know.”

He is survived by his father and stepmother, Clark Grady West and Melissa West, and his mother, Nanette West.

Using data from the Dartmouth Atlas – a source of information and analytics that organizes Medicare data by a variety of indicators linked to medical resource use – we recently ranked geographic areas based on markers of end-of-life care quality, including deaths in the hospital and number of physicians seen in the last year of life.

Wednesday morning two independent research teams, one based in the Netherlands and the other in California, reported that the deluge from Hurricane Harvey was significantly heavier than it would have been before the era of human-caused global warming.

Denver’s newest skyscraper will be home to one of the city’s most recognizable home-grown business by the end of next year. Chipotle is moving its 450 downtown corporate staff into the 1144 Fifteenth tower by the end of 2018.